Posts Tagged ‘China’

$3.9 billion in just a month

Any predictions of a slowdown in Macau’s gaming market are long forgotten.

The Chinese gaming enclave shattered the region’s monthly gaming revenue record in March, with casinos collecting more than $3.92 billion from gamblers during the month.

The figure eclipsed the previous one-month record of $3.5 billion in gaming revenues, which was set in December. The March total accounted for a 25.4 percent increase over the amount casinos collected in March 2012.

The monthly results were released Tuesday by the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. The March total is the best year-over-year growth rate since January 2012, when gaming revenues increased by 35 percent.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts Ltd. are the three American casino companies operating in Macau.

Let’s put some perspective on the record $38 billion in gaming revenues collected by Macau’s casino industry in 2012.

The figure is higher than the $35.64 billion collected by the entire U.S. commercial casino industry in 2011.

During December, Macau’s 35 casinos collected a single-month record of $3.5 billion in gaming revenues, more than half of what the Strip’s casinos collected in all of 2011.

Macau’s $38 billion gaming revenue take was a 13.5 percent increase from the $33.5 billion the market collected in 2011. However, Macau casinos grew gaming revenues 42 percent between 2010 and 2011.

“By and large, we believe the calendar year 2012 gross gaming revenue growth was ahead of most Wall Street estimates, the majority of which were ratcheted down throughout the year and conservative leaning, in our view,” Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets gaming analyst Steven Wieczynski said.

Gov. Brian Sandoval announced Wednesday that he’ll go to China and South Korea next week on a trade mission in an effort to strengthen business ties between Nevada and two of Asia’s largest economies.

Sandoval said the trade mission is the first time in Nevada history a governor has led a trade mission to both countries. Former Democratic Gov. Richard Bryan led a delegation to China in the 1980s, according to the governor’s office.

Sandoval told members of the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce meeting at Greenland Supermarket that his 10-day trip is also about getting the state “in the game” when it comes to building business ties in Asia.

“We are building the foundation for the next 20 years,” the Republican governor said. “Many other states that have done this and have been rewarded. We can do a lot more.”

Money money money. It makes the world go round. Without it there would be no trees or air, all pigs would immediately expire, and tomatoes would turn blue. I think that’s right. Anyway, if you’re a fan of money, keep your eyes glued to this webpage because there’s a lot it floating about.

Worldwide Gambling Bonanza

Every click, stick, twist, and spin from last year has been totalled up and the results are in. The planet Earth generated $419 billion in gambling revenue, according to Global Betting and Gaming Consultants. Poker, in particular the online variety, makes up a very small component of that figure, but I don’t think it would be going out on a limb to suggest that the U.S. getting their regulatory act together might nudge it further up the list. [OnlinePoker.net]

UK Investors in for Full Tilt

After riding into the breach on a white stallion, Groupe Bernard Tapie appear to have stopped for a picnic. In case they decide to stay where they are and play Frisbee for a while, a UK private equity firm is poised to purchase Full Tilt’s old poker software. Please note, that means only the software and nothing else. They have no interest in reopening Full Tilt and are very unlikely to cover the site’s debts. That said, you would hope that the $35 million estimated price for the client would filter back into the pockets of jilted Full Tilt customers. I’m sure we can totally trust them, right? [Gaming Awards]

WSOPE 2012 Unveils Itself

I am still seething from when Caesars’ cruelly ripped the World Series of Poker Europe from my beloved London and gave it to the French, of all people. As difficult as it is to believe, the Gauls apparently did a good job last year. At any rate, the event is heading back to Cannes from September 21 to October 4 at the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette and the Hôtel Majestic Barrière. There will be seven bracelet events in total, including the €10,450 Main Event. [ESPN]

Haxton vs. Isildur

I think these SuperStar Showdown things are really good fun. For the most part, internet sensation Viktor “Isildur1” Blom has outmatched the gamut of famous grinders laid before him, but this weekend’s re-match features one of his few failures. Isaac Haxton, him of the stylish glasses and funny voice, will be sitting down to play four tables of $50/$100 NLHE this Sunday. [Card Player]

Shuffle Master Buys OnGame

Failed Transformer ShuffleMaster has decided to dip his toe into the world of online gambling by purchasing the vacant OnGame network. What? Oh, apparently Shuffle Master make card shuffling machines. Anyway, since forming their unholy union last year, bwin.party have been trying hard to offload their spare network. They’ve finally managed to shift it in a deal worth €19.5 million, plus an extra €10 million if online gambling is legalized in the U.S. within 5 years. [Poker News]

Keeping it Illegal in Asia

China is well on its way to becoming the world’s largest economy and even if gambling isn’t an explicit part of their financial system, it has built itself a huge underground following. Global Betting and Gaming Consultants estimate that illegal gambling in the country is worth $15bn to $18bn. [Intergame Online]

Meanwhile in Indonesia, gambling online means risking a lot more than your bankroll. Under the infamously harsh Sharia law, those caught wagering can be whipped up to 100 times. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Mafia bosses, accustomed to taking a big cut of all illicit gambling in the country, are putting pressure on online sites to shut down their operations. [Gaming Zion]

Also from that same June 28 Time magazine article, here’s an interesting video sidebar about poker — and Texas Hold’em specifically — finally coming of age in China / Macau. You’ll notice the big presence of PokerStars there, too … a reminder of their role in building the “poker world” on a truly global scale:

I’m kinda glad I didn’t respond to that spammish email trying to sell me pokerati.cn … the Commie reds are about to embark on a six-month, eight-agency crackdown on online gambling. Chinese officials did not respond to inquiries on whether or not running the campaign between now and August had anything to do with timing of the World Series of Poker.

Not sure how deep any in our industry have dug into the possibilities in China yet, but hey, that “Bodies” exhibit could probably use some new prisoners to pose playing poker.

Online gambling “has caused large cash outflows from the country and seriously disturbed social and economic order,” said a statement posted on the public security ministry’s Web site Monday.

The campaign aims to “bust a number of syndicates from home and abroad that collude to organise gambling activities on the Internet and severely punish the illegal rings,” it said.

Authorities will also clamp down on underground banks and third party payment platforms that provide cash transfer services for gambling sites, as well as Internet operators that provide Web access services, it said.

“(We) will clean up gambling information and Web sites across the board,” the statement said.

Here’s a quick rundown of what’s going on in one of the hungriest industries out there, and, game of skill or not, the parent biz of our beloved little poker world:

ALABAMA — A small little gambling fight is going down in the land Spencer Bachus represents, over a matter of semantics, technology, and the millions of dollars bingo machines represent. Bingo is legal in ‘bama … but should video bingo be? The fight is a dirty — complete with one agency repeatedly trying to raid a well-monied operation that believes it’s on the right side of the law.

Personal information in the breach included names, Social Security numbers, home addresses and dates of birth. Most of the people in the licensing database are Iowa residents, but it also includes residents of Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin and other states, Ketterer said.

The list includes workers such as card dealers, slot machine technicians, jockeys, trainers and owners of horses and greyhounds.

Interesting op-ed in the New York Times today about the WTO and China, particularly pointing out the need for China to not just stop pirating American music and movies, but also to respect WTO rulings outright:

China has also increasingly turned to the W.T.O. to defend its interests. Last month, it challenged an American ban on Chinese poultry imports. It has another case against American anti-dumping policy. And there will be more. China has as big a stake as the United States in a well-functioning, lawful trading system. If it wants to protect its own rights, it will accept the W.T.O.â€™s rulings.

Funny. You’d think in the world of trade, this might be a two-way street. Perhaps the NYT is just a bit clueless on the US’s thumbing its nose at the WTO as it pertains to online gambling? And considering that we owe China more than they owe us … who’s really in the driver’s seat on this one?

We have just received word from our attorneys in Kentucky that Judge Thomas Wingate has ruled against us on all points. In his conclusion he orders the 141 online gaming sites to geographically block and prove that they have done so before the Commonwealth of Kentucky will release ownership of their domain names.

Brendan Hansen … American swimmer … just got third in his semi-final in the 100m breaststroke. (Really, how amazing is that — to be able to breast-stroke the length of a football field in less than a minute.) Anyhow, apparently he’s been struggling a bit, having posted some disappointing times in some prelims or trials or something failed to qualify for the 200m breast … and the announcer (sorry, haven’t learned who’s doing which sport yet) started speculating that it was a calculated “poker play” — not showing his best cards yet, saving them for the finals? I dunno, the metaphor’s kinda lost on me … but still, poker … olympics. Go NBC!